Tyrael - ...And justice for all. Hybrid tank/support by Demartan

Tyrael - ...And justice for all. Hybrid tank/support

By: Demartan
Last Updated: Sep 20, 2015
46 Votes
Build Guides Discussion (10) More Guides
Build 1 of 1

Tyrael

Build: Hybrid tank/support

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

Threats to Tyrael with this build

Threat
Low
High
Show all
Threat Hero Notes
1
 Tyrael In my opinion, when playing as a team Tyrael has no real counters. Extreme mobility, slows and regen provide survivability against virtually anything. Playing Tyrael is more about knowing the limits of the hero and your team (composition).
2
   No Threat
3
   No Threat
4
   No Threat
5
   No Threat
6
   No Threat
7
   No Threat
8
   No Threat
9
   No Threat
10
   No Threat

Table of Contents Top

  1. Introduction
  2. Basic skills
  3. Talent build
  4. Dispensing Justice
  5. Changelog

Introduction Top

Hello, I am Demartan. I've played Action RTS games for a couple of years now.
My preferred style of heroes are initiator/support heroes. I love being able to just charge in battle and be a nuisance to the enemy team, all while helping my team stay alive. Abaddon was and is(one of) my favourite heroes to play in DotA. However, I also felt comfortable being the initiator, which Abaddon was not. Heroes like Tidehunter and Sand King let me dictate and/or disrupt the flow of battle.

After learning the basics of HotS (playing about 140 games as Raynor and getting the Master skin), I felt myself intrigued by Tyrael. On paper, he perfectly fit the mould of my 'perfect' hero. Thus, I spent all my remaining gold on buying him and haven't regretted a moment since.

In this guide I will show my view on playing Tyrael, based on my experiences with him. I am most definitively not a professional player, so some of my statements might be flawed or incorrect when taking competitive games into account. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I enjoy improving myself and my knowledge!


Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice, is a Warrior that focuses on mobility and shielding allies. His kit makes him able to initiate, chase and disengage the enemy team; all while making sure his allies stay protected. His base damage output is mediocre, as is his base survivability when compared to other Warriors. He makes up for this by being able to shield and speed up himself and his team, as well as getting insane survivability later on in the game.

There are several possible builds for Tyrael, which are all viable in their own way. Some of them are:
  • Hybrid tank/support
  • Pure chase
  • Damage

The role I prefer playing (as you could have guessed by reading the introduction) is the Tank/support build. That particular build is the only one I will discuss in detail, since I consider the other ones to be fairly self-explanatory (i.e., taking all damage boosting abilities or movement speed abilities).

Basic Skills Top

Combat Trait

Archangel's Wrath
Counterintuitive trait in my opinion, which promotes dying. Sure, the blast damage is decent. But please don't mindlessly die! With removal of Resurgence of the Storm this has lost all its value (to me at least).

Basic abilities

El'Druin's Might (Q)
Works wonders for initiating, chasing, escaping and finishing. Remember, you can throw this over impassable terrain and then teleport to it. Throwing the sword applies a slow, teleporting to it ( Angelic Flash) (re-)applies the slow.
Righteousness (W)
Top the Healing charts. Try to shield as much allies simultaneously as you can. Don't spam this early on due to the relative high mana cost.
Note how the description says 'allies' and not 'Heroes'. This means it also works on creeps and mercs!
Smite (E)
Your second chase/finish/escape abiity. Position the AoE in a way that gives your teammates the speed boost while chasing.

Heroic abilities

Judgement (R)
This might be the best initiation in the game (together with Stitches' Hook). Use it to interrupt channels, quickly lock and bring down squishies like Valla, or even escape by casting it on an enemy creep that is away from the battle. Better to waste an ulti than to die. The enemy team can briefly see who you judgement on. A slight nerf compared to earlier, but the skill is still freaking insane.
Sanctification (R)
Makes all allies in a VERY SMALL area invulnerable, including yourself. Tyrael himself stays vulnerable though. Good in confined spaces like the Temples on Sky Temple. Needs you to take survivability talents to be truly effective (basically creating a fully invulnerable team).

Talent build Top



I consider Regeneration Master to be a no-brainer here. The only situation where I could justify taking another talent would be when the enemy has extreme zoning potential.
In each creepwave you should AT LEAST kill the mage creep. Mage creeps drop a health orb. If you feel slightly zoned, dont hesitate to use abilities to get in, kill the creep, get the orb and out quickly. Later on, try to be at as much Merc camps as possible when your team is taking them. Each mercenary camp gives a health orb as well.
In the end, this should result in some considerable regen.




The 30% extra regen applies to the regen from Fountain and more important, Regeneration Master. Since this build does utilise auto-attacks (see level 7), Vampiric Strike can be considered if you are not queueing as a team, and having no 'real' healers (just a Tassadar, for example). Even in that situation, I highly prefer Amplified Healing though. Especially considering the level 13 talent we will be taking.




Since your attack speed is decent, Battle Momentum makes you able to spam your abilities. But just because you can spam doesn't mean you should! Tyrael's mana pool is relatively small, so be fairly conservative with your abilities outside of engagements with the enemy team.
A thing to note is that Battle Momentum also works on reducing your Heroic ability's cooldown.
Zealotry seems good on paper, but most of the times your shield won't last longer than 4 seconds.




I prefer hard initiation myself. In most cases, Judgment is also the most effective and easy to make an impact with talent to pick (in solo queue at least). Since Sanctification got 'buffed': its no longer channeled but a ground targeted ability and you are also invulnerable. However, the radius of the ability got reduced to 33%, making the skill practically worthless. Sanctification is extremely situational and very heavily reliant on your team and map: composition, coordination, timing and positioning.




This is an insane regen method. Imposing Will is not nearly as good in my opinion. Angelic Absorption makes you able to regen your health by
  • intercepting an enemy creep wave, this will regen quite some of your missing hp.
  • getting focused in teamfights, this will top off your health most of the time.
The healing you receive gets boosted by Amplified Healing as well. Imposing Will seems suited to escaping, where the pursuers can't chase you.




I consider most of the talents in this tier to be good. However, since we've buffed up our shield we pick up Salvation which potentially doubles your shield. Biggest impact in teamfights.




Hardened Shield is SO good. You're basically unkillable with it active, and to top it all off: it costs no mana at all! Angel of Justice increases the cast range of Judgment and reduces its cooldown. The increased range is quite nice, but the reduced cooldown is not necessary due to Battle Momentum. Thus, you benefit more from Hardened Shield.
Nexus Blades is not bad per se. It's place just lies in a damage-dealing build. Tyrael has enough chase on low cooldowns as is.

Also, an interesting thing to note is how Hardened Shield interacts with Angelic Absorption. You should know that Angelic Absorption's heal is not based off damage amount taken, but just attacks done to you. This means that Hardened Shield doesn't reduce your healing done through Angelic Absorption, quite the opposite. With your damage taken being reduced and healing still being done at the 'normal' rate, your healing will negate damage taken even more. I have had cases where I was at low health (sub 50%), popped Hardened Shield and Angelic Absorption in a teamfight, and come out fully healed and kicking.

Dispensing Justice Top


Lane with someone else, solo laning will not work out most of the time considering your mediocre HP and damage.

Collect all Regen Globes! Kill every mage creep you see. Jump in, get the globe, jump out. This way you build up your Regeneration Master stacks.
You are fairly squishy compared to other Warriors in this stage of the game, so beware of heavy damage. Your reduced tankiness is compensated by your mobility though.
Keep your enemies slowed and your teammates sped up to secure kills.


Once you get your Heroic ( Judgment), you should actively look for engagements or counter-engagements. Map awareness, positioning and Hero/ability knowledge is key here. Don't just recklessly jump in. Look for the highest priority targets. Examples are counter-engaging a Nazeebo when he starts channeling his Ravenous Spirit, Valla's Strafe, Nova's Triple Tap and similar abilities.
When engaging, focus down the squishy heroes first. Charge onto them, lock them down and turn even engagements highly in your favor. You are very tanky at this point, stick close to your team to shield them with Righteousness and make sure noone escapes by slowing enemies and speeding up allies.


Once you get all your talents you really are Justice incarnate. Combined with your insane mobility, you are now able to soak up incredible amounts of damage. Soar across the frontlines, being a general nuisance to your enemies who will want to take that pesky Tyrael down. This creates space for your team to freely engage. Again, you can finish off stragglers with ease.

What are you waiting for? Get to the Nexus and dispense Justice!


Thanks for reading my guide!

Changelog Top

20-09-2015
Been away from Heroes for a while, but want to keep this guide up-to-date and relevant. Basically, both ultimates got nerfed. Blizz wanted to make Santification viable, so they 'buffed' Santification and made a totally unneeded nerf to Judgement, to in some way drive you to pick sanctification. Damn, Blizzard really wants people to pick Santification. Changes I noticed below, but also of course edited in the guide itself.
  • Sanctification got 'buffed': you are also invulnerable and can move, but the now insanely small radius makes the skill totally worthless in my opinion.
  • Judgement got nerfed: your target is visible to enemy team, slightly longer cast time.


01-07-2015
Some small talent changes, but Regen Master is still the best talent in my opinion.
  • Removed the part at Judgement (ultimate 1) regarding targetting creeps. Judgement can only target Heroic targets, i.e. enemy Heroes.
  • Vampiric Strike is not better than Amplified Healing. Not changing that guide of the build either.
  • Corrected my reasoning concerning Vampiric Strike/Amplified Healing.


25-03-2015
No changes to Tyrael this patch.
  • Elaborated a bit on the choice of the level 20 talent.
  • Fixed some typography


05-03-2015
Finished guide:
  • Improved formatting (Level x images, all talents visually displayed).
  • Added my views on the skills.
  • Added my views on the talent choices.
  • Added a gameplay section (how should you be playing).
  • Added changelog. :)


02-03-2015
Started working on guide:
  • Added Introduction.
  • Added Skills.
  • Added Talent build.
  • Draft of formatting.

Quick Comment (9) View Comments

You need to log in before commenting.

46 Votes

Quick Comment (9) View Comments

You need to log in before commenting.

HeroesFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new hero, or fine tune your favorite HotS hero’s build and strategy.

Copyright © 2019 HeroesFire | All Rights Reserved